Then There Were Two
by Mina Everly
Summary: Rei is the daughter of the Legendary Sanin Jiraiya and Tsunade. All is well in the village, being close to Naruto's family, until the Nine-Tails is suddenly released and Naruto's family shows up dead. Rei's parent's fate is unknown, but now, she and Naruto have to get through this one together. Rated T for language. Pairings undecided. Mostly canon. Flames... not accepted.
1. Rei

Chapter 1: Rei

"Rei! Come on, we're going over to Naruto's place! Bring your toys!"

My dad, Legendary Sanin Jiraiya, called to a four year old me.

If you haven't already figured it out, my name is Rei. No surname… just Rei.

My mom is also one of the Sanin… her name is Tsunade.

She would always tell me my birth was a miracle: she was thirty-eight when she got pregnant with me, which is just about the age of not being able to conceive a child, but they were lucky enough to have me.

I would often get comments on how much I acted like my mother, yet looked a lot like my father, but I never really understood them.

They used to be teammates under the tutelage of the Third Hokage, but… I wondered about the third one, because obviously there is supposed to be a three man squad, but they'd never tell me his name or who he was and what he did.

As my younger self grabbed my favorite toy, a plush shuriken, I ran up to my father.

I was three years old when they told me that I had a few birth defects.

My white hair, which looked much like my father's, was one of them.

The other one was kind of unprecedented: my skin was a shade darker than both of my parents, so I had a tan from the sun year-round.

Most people would probably call it a perk, but I don't. I wanted to look as much like my famous parents as I could so people would recognize me everywhere I went.

My parents and I travelled outside of our off-white colored house in the great village of Konohagakure.

It wasn't a very long walk over to the Uzumaki's place: my best friend has been Naruto since birth.

Our parents were close to each other, since his father was my father's student at one point.

I really liked Naruto's mom: her hair was really pretty, and she was really nice unless Naruto and I ate all of her ramen, which we did pretty often.

We arrived at Naruto's doorstep and his dad, Minato, answered.

He welcomed us into his house and I immediately went looking for Naruto.

We played this game where he would hide whenever I went into his house, and if I found him in five minutes, I got the first bowl of ramen that came out of the microwave, and if I couldn't find him in five minutes, then _he_ got the first bowl.

To be honest, I usually won. His blonde hair was hard to miss when he hid behind things.

Today, I immediately went up to his room and found him underneath his bed. Throwing my plush kunai at him, I smirked:

"Gotcha!"

Naruto made a very surprised face as he exclaimed:

"Rei! Wow, I can't believe you found me! I thought for _sure_ you wouldn't look here!"

Smiling, I helped Naruto out from under the bed.

He and I were often inseparable; playing together never got boring.

I heard Naruto's dad's voice from where we were standing:

"Jiraiya! Wow! We are _so_ going!"

"_Going where?"_ I thought, as Naruto and I snuck down the steps.

Every little creak must have given us away, because Naruto's mom came up behind us somehow and asked:

"What are we doing up here?"

My little heart jumped as I whipped around, feeling my orange eyes widen in surprise.

"Um… we… we were just…"

Naruto fell down the stairs at the sound of his mom's voice behind us.

"Come on; let's go downstairs and talk about your birthday!"

Naruto was twenty-four hours older than I was; my birthday was October 11th.

However, often, Naruto and I had combined birthday parties because we preferred it that way.

Naruto's dad was smiling at my dad as the three of us reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I read your new book! I thought it was pretty amazing!"

My dad smiled too.

"Oh really? What was your favorite part?"

My mom walked in front of my view.

"Rei, Naruto… where would you want to have your birthday this time around?"

Naruto smirked at me as we both exclaimed:

"Ichiraku's!"

Naruto's mom muttered "Yes!" under her breath, making me smile and my mom put a hand to her head exasperatedly.

"Alright, alright! You two can go to Ichiraku's and eat your hearts out."

I cheered alongside Naruto as we gave each other high-fives.

Jiraiya only sighed.

"I swear… our kid is more like your wife, Minato…"

Naruto's dad, who looked a lot like Naruto, smirked.

"I wouldn't be surprised…"

**Two Weeks Later**

Naruto and I ran into Ichiraku's ramen stand.

"Two miso ramen please, Old Man!"

We spoke simultaneously.

The man at the ramen shop smiled at us.

"I already had them prepared!"

He handed us some hot ramen as we sat down and ate.

Naruto's mom ordered some as well, and Naruto's dad only smiled politely.

"It's on my tab tonight."

The man laughed.

"Good luck with that one! You'll be losing an arm and a leg tonight!"

I, honestly, didn't really know what he meant by that, but I kept eating. It was Naruto and I's fifth birthday 'party', and we were going to waste the night eating our fill of ramen.

That's when Naruto's mom started having stomach pains.

Naruto's dad seemed to know what was going on, as he told the Old Man that he owes him for the ramen we ate, and he told Naruto and I to head back to the Uzumaki's house.

"…Why?"

Naruto asked, but I agreed to do so as I grabbed his hand and we ran toward the Uzumaki apartment.

Once there, Naruto and I passed some time until we heard a large sound… like a bang.

It shook his house, even.

"What was that?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes wide in fear.

I didn't know, so I looked outside.

The village was in ruins; there was fire everywhere, and ninja running atop the roofs of other houses, yelling orders.

"Naruto! Get over here!" I gasped, but when I turned around, he wasn't there. He was gone.

I felt responsible for Naruto, and knowing his rash nature, I ran outside, expecting to find him, but what I _did_ find was a huge, foxlike creature staring down at me.

A mute scream escaped my mouth as I backed into the building as much as I could, but the fox's breath tore through my hair like a scythe as I stared into its red eyes.

"_Am I going to die?"_

Something must have caught the creature's attention, because it turned away from me, barely grazing the Uzumaki's apartment building.

Without thinking about it, though, I kept running through the village, looking for Naruto.

Everyone I passed, I asked them if they had seen him, but most of them would barely point me a direction and they all told me to go home.

I was terrified, but I _had_ to find my best friend.

Scared yet determined, I brushed my messy white hair out of my face as I stared through the streets into a field.

I could barely make out someone's blonde hair, and for a moment, I thought it was Naruto.

Running as fast as I could, I tried to get close to it.

For a split moment, I thought about my parents as I ran toward the familiar-looking head.

"_They're probably out fighting that fox! They're brave!"_

I reached a spot where the familiar head was easy to see, and I recognized Naruto's dad with the Hokage coat over his shoulders.

He had an unusually serious look on his face as he charged toward this fox-thing and I could see Naruto's mom on the ground. She looked wounded.

Gasping, I got a little closer as I noticed Naruto lying on the ground nearby.

I shook him, trying to wake him up, but he didn't move at all.

Naruto's mom called to me:

"Rei…"

Trying not to be seen by the terrifying fox, I snuck up to her and she whispered to me:

"Run. Naruto will come back to the apartment. Your… your parents will be there in a moment."

"But what about-"

"Don't worry about Minato and I. It'll be ok."

She smiled weakly at me, and I walked away as fast as I could, although I was a little reluctant to leave Naruto where he was.

"_Where did the fox come from? Why is it so angry?"_

Confused, I took refuge in the apartment.

Sitting there for hours was painful and suspenseful, but it was then that Naruto stumbled back into the apartment.

"Naruto!" I exclaimed, but I stopped when I saw strange marks on his cheeks. They resembled whiskers.

He stared back at me.

"Where are mom and dad?" He asked, looking around.

Naruto's blue eyes were different. Almost… conflicted. It bothered me.

"I-I don't know."

Naruto and I waited in silence for hours… but they never came back.

That's when someone knocked on the door.

I answered to see another friend of my family; the Third Hokage. He retired the title of Hokage as he gave it to Naruto's dad, thinking he's young enough to continue leading the village.

"Naruto… Rei… I'm afraid… Minato and Kushina have died in battle."

I watched Naruto's eyes widen substantially as he bit his lip agonizingly.

Without thinking about it, I asked:

"What about my parents? Are they ok?!"

The Third just stared at me and answered:

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen them since the attack."

It was that moment when I knew. I knew they were probably dead as well.

That night, Naruto and I held each other for hours, crying and letting the pain flow freely over ourselves.

To be completely truthful, the only thing I remember about Naruto's father and mother's funeral is that Naruto and I had to leave at the very end because we couldn't stop crying.

They never found my parents. Our home was destroyed.

Naruto let me stay in his apartment, which was financed by the Third Hokage, who had assumed his role again, and we lived in sorrow.

On top of that, for some random reason, everyone in the village now hated Naruto.

I tried to ask why, but no one would tell me.

They kept saying that it was "forbidden to speak about".

In the fall of the next year, Naruto and I started school at the academy.

By then, Naruto and I had physically recovered from the attack of the fox, which I then knew by the name of "Kyuubi".

Mentally, though, Naruto and I were both still grief stricken.

Out of the two of us, I was probably the slowest to recover; only a year into the Academy, Naruto was already cracking jokes and messing around with his three new friends.

He and his friends always fell asleep in class and ditched, making our teacher, Iruka-sensei, really mad.

One of Naruto's new best friends, Shikamaru Nara, was the smartest kid I've ever met. He was nice, too, but ridiculously lazy.

Another was Choji Akimichi. He always ate chips in class, contrary to Iruka-sensei's 'no eating' rule in class, and he was really nice, despite all of the other girls telling me how ugly and 'fat' he was.

The last was Kiba Inuzuka. Personally, I think he's cocky enough for the both of Naruto and himself. He and Naruto are always getting into competitions on who is the best at… whatever, and the score ratio is usually tied. I never really was a fan of him, actually. His dog was cute, though.

I'll admit, like every other girl, I was in 'love' with Sasuke Uchiha, arguably the best in our class. Don't ask me why; it's hard to explain that kind of thing… he wasn't too bad-looking, so that must have been a contributing factor.

Naruto always told me he never really got what all of the girls saw in him. I had tried to explain one day, but it was too hard, so I just quit.

Though, I snapped out of the trance when I was demonstrating throwing shuriken at a target, and when I missed _once,_ I saw him flash a stupid smirk my way.

It was as if he was taunting me, and it irritated me, so I stopped liking him. The next six years in the Academy went by without much conflict:

Naruto and I always trained together, even though I tried to help him with his Jutsu, I realized I was better than good at the Jutsu he was struggling with.

As much as I had tried to become a prodigy like my parents who graduated from the Academy at age six, I proved that I wasn't nearly as good.

The more Iruka-sensei made us practice Jutsu such as cloning and substitution, the more I realized that fighting was not my strong point.

Iruka-sensei once told me that I was good at chakra control, and that sparked my new goal:

I wanted to become a medical ninja, much like my mother.

Like everyone else in my year, I graduated at age twelve. Naruto seemed as though he didn't pass, but the next day, he came back with a headband.

Naturally, I tried to ask him how that was possible, but he wouldn't answer me. He just told me that he showed Iruka-sensei the cloning technique one more time and he let him pass, though I'm sure that's not all there is to it.

Today, though, I'm sitting here, wishing my parents could see me now, as I waited for my name to be called in the roster that Iruka-sensei was holding.

* * *

ALRIGHT.

Ok, I know that my explanation of the past could have been better, as well as there are probably a few flaws in this one, but I'll work them out! Don't worry.

Pairings in this story are undecided, so you can review on who you want to be with who in this story, because for the most part, I will heed your reviews. I listen to my readers xD. (There's a poll on my profile... I'll add more couples as I think of them...)

Ok, and this story will probably be mostly cannon… as much as I can make it.

Be ready for the introductions of three more OC characters.

One of them is not owned by me, and I will make that known at the end of the next chapter. :)

Rate/Review! (I LOVE feedback!)


	2. My Team

_Flashback:_

_Today, though, I'm sitting here, wishing my parents could see me now, as I waited for my name to be called in the roster that Iruka-sensei was holding._

Chapter 2: My Team

Naruto sat next to me as he shook in his seat with anticipation.

"Rei! I can't wait! Three man squads… I can't wait!"

He was all smiles as he stared at me.

"I know… we're probably not going to be on the same team… you know that, right?"

Naruto nodded at me, making my face light up in a smile.

"Yeah, I know. But… don't kill any of your teammates, ok? You have a crazy temper…"

Snorting, I turned away from him.

I knew my temper was pretty bad, so I tried not to get mad too often. It was a trait I inherited from my mother.

"I hope I get put with… Sakura…" Naruto's eyes were shining as he stared at a pink-haired girl at the front of the class.

He had always liked her, yet I had no idea why. She was one of those girls who was hopelessly flaunting Sasuke… I used to be one, but never mind me.

"With your luck, you will. I just hope I don't get stuck with a dead-last…" I growled.

If there was anything that pissed me off more than being stuck with some fan girl, it would be being with a dead-last student. Someone who _couldn't_ learn. Someone who would drag the rest of the team down.

"C'mon, Rei… you're probably going to be with some of the most advanced kids in the class!"

I smiled; Naruto usually praised me like this. It was in his nature to be supportive of others, and I guess it rubbed off on me, as I was the same way.

Iruka got our attention:

"Alright class, I've got your squads right here. Keep in mind that the people I place you with… they will be your teammates for a long time, so you should get used to each other."

He took a deep breath and coughed, only making me more nervous.

"_Who did he stick ME with?"_

For a long while, I scanned the classroom, making mental notes on who was picked and who was not, trying to mentally form my team.

"…Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto's eyebrows went up as he chanted "Sakura… Sakura… Sakura…" under his breath.

"Sakura Haruno."

I could almost hear Sakura's whine as I refrained from pulling my hair out; Sakura annoyed me. She _knew_ about Naruto's feelings, but purposely made him feel terrible. I didn't understand why he liked her.

Naruto jumped up in his seat, but slowly sank back down when he heard the third member of his team:

"… And Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke was sitting near the front, but he had no reaction as far as I could tell.

"_That knocks him out for my squad…"_

Relief flooded over me as I smiled to myself.

Naruto groaned:

"I _hate_ Sasuke! Ugh, why did _I_ have to be on a team with him?!"

"Maybe it's because being on a team with Sakura has its down-side."

He glared at me. "I remember when you were, like, _obsessed_ with Sasuke."

Returning the glare, I snorted.

"Don't even go there."

We were about to get into it, but that's when I heard it:

"Squad Eleven: Rei."

I cracked my knuckles.

"_Let's get this over with. Who are my teammates?"_

"Dosan Kobayashi."

A boy two rows in front of my smirked and put his hands behind his back.

He was a master of swords and had a quite… sly personality. His dark, spikey hair with really dark blue highlights was different, for a boy, and his pale skin stood out in the classroom. He was a funny guy. Kiba Inuzuka was his 'rival', but Dosan didn't really care.

"And… Haruka Mizushima."

I almost groaned:

Haruka… she was one of those annoying girls who cared more about appearance than getting a mission done. She was nice though… even though she was _definitely_ Sasuke's biggest fan… she even had an Uchiha emblem embedded in her backpack. Haruka's hair was cool, though; in two ponytails, it was almost grape-colored.

Naruto nudged me out of my thoughts.

"Your team seems like a handful. Good luck."

My temper flared inside of me as I nudged him hard enough to nearly tip his chair. "You're one to talk!"

Iruka-sensei was talking now, but he had his eyes trained on the two of us.

"You'll be meeting your sensei after lunch is over… which would be in about half an hour."

As soon as Iruka got done talking, Naruto grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the hall.

"Let's have our last lunch together! Of course, the entire gang has to come…"

His smile was kind of scary… almost sinister.

Shikamaru caught up to us, obviously hearing our conversation. "Yeah. At least Choji and I are on the same team, right?"

Choji was right behind us, a smile on his face. "Yeah, Shikamaru! It'll be so fun!"

"But…" Shikamaru stopped there, unsure if he should go on with his sentence.

"Ino is on our team. She's _so_ bossy, it's not even funny. She's worse than my mom."

"I don't know why you guys aren't happy with your teams. Mine is completely fine."

Kiba approached us with Akamaru in his hoodie, like always.

Naruto smirked. "Kiba… guess who is on Rei's team?"

"Dosan? Heh, Dosan and I are rivals." Kiba kept smirking until a dark voice could be heard behind our group:

"Rivals? I don't think we're even in the same league."

I turned around to see Dosan's bored-looking hazel eyes glaring at Kiba.

He and Kiba locked eyes for a moment, and that's when the hoodie-wearing Genin burst out, holding his fist in the air:

"I challenge you to a rival battle!"

Dosan only shrugged. "You're not worth it. Besides, I can't waste all of my energy on someone as worthless as you are."

This made Naruto laugh. "Dosan gotcha, Kiba!"

Kiba seemed to want to lunge at my new teammate, but refrained as Dosan made his way beyond us.

"…I'm surprised he doesn't have any fan girls. He's like a second Sasuke… a little more talkative, though." Shikamaru mused.

I glanced at Naruto, who was staring at Dosan's back. "Hmm…"

Suddenly, he snapped out of it and regained his energy.

"Rei! Let's go! We have to go to Ichiraku!"

I had no time to react as he dragged me through the hall and finally let go as we got out of the hall. That's when Sakura walked by us:

"Sasuke!" She called. "Where are you?!"

Naruto stared after her, then smiled. "You don't mind if I go have lunch with Sakura?"

I _did_ mind; Sakura treated him like shit all the time, but if he really wanted to spend all of his time with her, then so be it.

"You're gonna try_ again, _Naruto?" Choji asked. "I mean… she's rejected you so many times… I thought you'd given up by now."

Naruto's blue eyes widened.

"The way of a ninja is not to give up… that's my ninja way! I'll get Sakura somehow…"

Scratching his cheek, Naruto ran off to catch up to Sakura.

"Man, he's an idiot…" Shikamaru sighed.

My temper began to flare inside of me; I _hate_ when people bad-mouth Naruto… even if it's just calling him an idiot… only I was allowed to.

"Shut up, Shikamaru… you _know_ he's not _that_ dumb…" I heard myself mutter.

He looked up at me. "You wanna make something of it, Rei?"

"_Woah, a challenge… I'll kick his ass any day…"_

Smirking, I balled up my fist, but shook my head. "I don't wanna make you cry like a little girl."

I turned around, waiting for an effect: if there was _one_ thing that Shikamaru couldn't stand being called, it was a _girl._ He thinks that all of us girls are 'troublesome' and 'bossy', and we can't do very many things the way he would want us to. I hope one day to prove him wrong.

"Woah, wait! Rei! Hold on!" Choji stepped in front of Shikamaru to stop him from coming at me. "That was a little outta line, don't-cha think?"

Shrugging, I turned again.

"No… Shikamaru just needs to put his big girl panties on and get out of his diapers. Calling Naruto dumb is something I _never_ tolerate… so he'll need to fight _me_ if he wants rights to those privileges, and we all _know_ he won't fight me because… guess why."

Kiba raised his right hand, trying to cover up his laughter with his left.

"Yes, Kiba?" I called on him, and he burst out: "Because you're a girl!"

Smiling, I high-fived him.

"Bingo! Correct Kiba! He won't fight me because I'm a girl. Maybe in a month's time, he'll grow up and fight me."

I felt the tension on my back as I walked away, feeling triumphant. Throughout my years at the Academy, Shikamaru and I always had fights like these. Though, they'd never get that intense…

That's when I spotted Haruka and Dosan standing just outside of the Academy, talking normally.

Haruka turned. "Hi, Rei!" Dosan turned after she did, and we locked eyes for a moment before looking away from each other.

I gulped: being around these people… it unnerved me, but when I realized that we still hadn't met our sensei, the feeling overwhelmed me even more.

"…So… you're Rei. I've seen you in class."

Dosan was staring at me with his arms crossed over his chest, looking all important.

"_If this guy is another Sasuke, I'll envy Naruto; the actual Sasuke, who almost NEVER talks, might be better than a cocky Sasuke who always talks!"_

The three of us began walking, and that's when Haruka asked:

"So… what are you guys good at? I mean… skill-wise. I'm a Genjutsu type, so I don't usually need weapons and stuff."

Dosan turned to her. "Me? I use blades of any type. Though, I know some Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, of course."

I butt in: "I'm going to focus on becoming a medical ninja, but I'm good at Taijutsu and can do most basic Ninjutsu."

Haruka stared at me for a moment, then looked away as we walked to some sort of dumpling shop nearby.

I had never been there, but I ordered a small batch of dumplings for the four of us as we got to know each other.

"…What's your favorite color?" Dosan asked Haruka.

Haruka looked like she had to think about it as her mauve-colored eyes flashed in thought. "It's gotta be… pink or blue. I can't pick between the two!"

That's when Dosan turned to me. "What about you?"

Taking a moment to think, I scratched my chin. Colors weren't usually something I thought about that often.

"_Usually I'm thinking about kicking ass and learning medical ninjutsu…"_

"Red, I guess."

Haruka smiled at me. "That's a good color. It symbolizes courage."

I stared at her like she was pretty much insane. _"I know that…"_

Dosan shrugged as he finished off the last of our dumplings.

"Let's go back, guys. We'll be meeting our sensei soon."

I walked behind both Dosan and Haruka… and I smirked to myself. _"They would make a good couple. They're complete opposites…"_

Before we even reached the Academy, I looked to my side and saw Sasuke run by me holding his stomach making a Naruto-like face.

"_That's unlike Sasuke… he'd never make any kind of face in public…"_

Haruka watched him go by us and she ran ahead. "Sasuke! Wait for me!"

I sighed. "What a fan girl…" Dosan glanced at me. "Yeah. What do they see in Sasuke? I mean… really. He's a good ninja, but he never talks to anyone, and when he does, it's insulting or mean."

Nodding, I agreed until we caught up with Haruka. She was standing awkwardly in the middle of the street.

"Sasuke… he pushed me out of the way…"

Rolling my eyes, I continued ahead to the Academy. I couldn't stand one more whining word from Haruka.

"_It's annoying how love-struck they get about him when he obviously doesn't care about any of them…"_

Walking back into the Academy, I waited for my two teammates to come over to me.

Standing in the hallway was awkward, especially when people you didn't know very well stared at you for a long period of time.

Honestly, it kind of stirred up my attitude, but I was alright. I think.

Finally, they caught up, but Haruka looked all depressed.

"Let's go meet our sensei so you can stop with the crocodile tears." Dosan was saying to Haruka, making her prone to glare at him.

"Why don't you shut up?! I'm not used to being rejected by Sasuke!"

"Why aren't you?! He rejects _everyone;_ if I was such a lady magnet like he is, I'd take all I can get, but he throws it away constantly!"

Listening to my teammates bicker only made my anger choke me as we neared the room we were scheduled to meet our sensei in.

"_Our new sensei better be good… so maybe it'll balance out this team. I don't know how I'm going to manage it at this point…"_

Walking into the room, a man with brown hair and a very tall, yet muscly figure was leaning against a desk.

"You guys are late! Geez, and here I thought you'd be waiting on _me…_"

"…Who are you?" Haruka asked, her eyes looking conflicted.

The man smirked. "Me? Well, _my_ name is Sora Yukimura. Sora-_sensei_ to you guys now."

I was apprehensive about this guy. _"He seems to know what he's doing… I wonder how skilled he is…"_

Dosan was the first to approach him.

"So, how's it going? My name is Dosan Kobayashi."

Stepping forward so I would seem rude, I held out my hand for my new sensei to shake.

"I'm Rei."

His eyebrow cocked up.

"Rei…?"

"Just Rei. No surname."

I hate when people do that… wonder what my surname is. I don't have one because my… parents… didn't have one. That simple.

Haruka was the final one to step forward.

"I'm Haruka Mizushima."

Sora-sensei smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest and his deep green eyes flashed.

"Well, why don't we get acquainted? You already know my name… but my favorite color is lime green and I enjoy watching the sky in my free time. Also, I'm an ex-ANBU member and I specialize in close-combat."

Dosan seemed eager to rival our sensei as he snorted.

"My favorite color is _forest_ green and I enjoy sword fighting in my free time. Also, I specialize in sword-fighting and anything to do with swords and weapons as such! I bet you're an ex-ANBU member because you weren't good enough to be there, so they kicked you out!"

Sora-sensei shook his head. "Actually, I quit because I didn't _want_ to be in the ANBU anymore. The mask ruined my tan since I always had to have it on while on duty… and usually it was during hot days in the summer."

I pointed to myself, hoping to ease the tension in the room.

"My favorite color is red and I enjoy training to become a better medical ninja. I specialize in anything to do with medical things and I guess I'm good at being tactical."

Haruka jumped up eagerly.

"Haha! My favorite colors are blue and pink, and I like to… um… daydream… in my free time! I use Genjutsu… and I'm good at it, mind you!"

It was kinda funny to see Haruka so fired up.

"_Now, let's see how long it'll last…"_

But… that's when Sora-sensei glanced at the door and a man with gray hair walked in, even though he looked really young.

"Hi, Sora-sensei."

My new sensei's green eyes widened. "Kakashi-sensei… what are you-"

"Would you and your students care to join my students and I in a training exercise? The… bells?"

"_Bells? What is he…?"_

Sora-sensei just smirked. "So soon? Alright… we'll start first thing in the morning."

Dosan glared up at our sensei as the other man left.

"What is a… bell exercise?!"

"Oh, we'll explain in the morning. Be at the training grounds at six in the morning… and _don't_ eat breakfast. You'll throw up."

My mouth must have been hanging open, but I kept it shut as Sora-sensei walked out of the room.

"Wait!" Haruka called, but he didn't turn around.

"I gotta get home and get some sleep!" Even though it was in the middle of the day, Dosan sped off to wherever.

"…_So, he'll be a second Sasuke one day, and a Naruto the next? What is with this guy?!"_

Haruka followed him, so I walked out of the room as well to see Naruto standing there, looking almost pale.

"You heard about it, Rei?" He asked me, gulping.

I nodded, not feeling so good myself. _"I wonder why we'll throw up…?"_

"I hope it's not too bad…" Naruto was muttering as we made our way back to his apartment. I was too deep in thought to reply to him.

"_This test… it must be pretty intense if it'll happen the first day we get into our squads…"_

Walking to Naruto's apartment was _not_ an easy feat. In fact, it was pretty hard. We climbed all of the stairs up to the door, and when he unlocked it, I immediately fell asleep on the couch, going into hibernation-mode so I'd be fully charged in the morning.

* * *

First of all: the character Dosan Kobayashi does NOT belong to me: it belongs to Dosan Kobayashi. Confusing? Look up his profile. He's my brother. xD He ALLOWED me to use him in this fic, and I tried to make him as real as possible.

Once again, the poll on my profile is open for suggestions on what the pairings in this story will be. Go ahead and vote!

Also, I really liked this chapter. :) I thought it was cool.

Next up: The Bell Drill! :)

Rate/Review… as well as vote on the poll on my profile! I'll take it into consideration!


	3. The Bell Test!

_Flashback:_

"_This test… it must be pretty intense if it'll happen the first day we get into our squads…"_

_Walking to Naruto's apartment was not an easy feat. In fact, it was pretty hard. We climbed all of the stairs up to the door, and when he unlocked it, I immediately fell asleep on the couch, going into hibernation-mode so I'd be fully charged in the morning._

Chapter 3: The Bell Test!

I woke up early in the night, feeling pumped and raring to go.

"_Let's get this over with! With all the sleep I got, I'll own this-"_

Without even finishing my thought, I stared at Naruto, who had just come out of his room; he looked like a walking zombie.

"Why didn't you get any sleep?!" I asked, but he only yawned in response as he started to make some ramen.

Naruto shrugged, rubbing their eyes. "I guess… I was busy… mentally training…"

Rolling my eyes, I got my supplies together for the day.

Once I had finished getting my shuriken and kunai, Naruto had a steaming bowl of ramen next to him as he was waiting for the microwave once more.

"That one's for you, Rei…"

"Naruto… didn't our sensei tell us not to eat…?"

His face froze in horror.

"Gah!"

Without another word, he threw the ramen that was supposedly for me in the trash, and took the unfinished ramen and threw it away as well.

My uncontrollable anger came out of me as I slapped him over his blonde head.

"Naruto! Ramen is _never_ to be wasted! _EVER!"_

He frowned. "I'm sorry, Rei! I didn't mean to-" But I sighed.

"Honestly… we might as well just get dressed and get going. This training is going to be tougher than we think."

Without waiting for his response, I grabbed my stuff and headed out, not even bothering to wait for my friend.

"_I hope I get through this exercise alive…"_ I'm not usually one to be really nervous about things like this, so I gave myself a pep talk until I reached the training field.

Dosan was standing there, a sword on his hip. He was biting his lip as he looked around, anxiously.

"Oh… it's you, Rei." He was staring at me now as he crossed his arms across his chest. "I thought Sora-sensei was here already."

"You guys aren't starting without me, are you?!"

I stifled a sigh as Haruka approached us at a fast speed. Even though it was now it excess of, well, probably five thirty in the morning, she looked kinda sharp.

I shrugged. "Now all we have to do is sit here and wait for Sora-sensei."

"You don't have to."

Our sensei was approaching now, a smile across his fair skinned face.

Dosan opened his mouth to speak, but Sora-sensei shook his head.

"Save it, Dosan. I'll explain this test. You three are going to have to get these from me."

Holding up two bells, our sensei smirked at us as he put on a cool-guy face.

"Seems easy enough, sensei!" Haruka was jogging in place, but our sensei shook his head.

"Actually, it's not. You see… getting these bells from me requires precision. I'm not one of your noob-ish Genin friends; I'm a former member of the ANBU Black Ops. Come at me with everything you've got. Now, onto the complications…"

He smirked at us, making me bite my lip, and he continued:

"If you cannot get these bells from me by lunch, you go hungry. If you can't get them by six in the evening… you fail and will be sent back to the Academy."

I stopped breathing, and I could feel Dosan's pent-up rage.

"What the hell, Sora-sensei?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" With that, he charged at him.

Haruka stepped in front of him. "Dosan, wait… Sora-sensei… why are there only two bells, but there are three of us?!"

Sora-sensei smirked again as he closed his eyes.

"One of you… will _definitely_ be sent back to the Academy."

For the second time today, and it wasn't even six in the morning, I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"…_I am NOT going back to the Academy. I worked so hard to get here, and I'm NOT going back now!"_

My determination set in as I geared up to attack. Despite being mainly a medical nin, I knew various types of Taijutsu and I could do basic Ninjutsu.

"_Let's do this right…"_

Haruka and Dosan seemed to still be in shock as our sensei suddenly smirked _yet again_.

"Don't fail guys. It's not too hard of a test. It begins… now!"

With that, he disappeared from sight.

My instinct told me to go into the cover of the trees, so I did just that, leaving my team to fend for themselves.

"_I'M sure as hell not being the dead-last! I'm winning this shit!"_

Feeling my adrenaline reach an all-time high, I took a deep breath and set off looking for Sora-sensei.

"Psst. Rei…"

Hearing my name, I turned and saw my sensei standing over me.

My heart jumped up to my throat.

"_Shit!"_

Barely dodging a well-executed attack consisting of a chakra-powered punch, I jumped back.

"Not bad at all, Rei," My sensei congratulated me. "But… you're going to have to do more than dodge to get the bells!"

I could barely get my thoughts in order as Sora-sensei charged at me once more, and I grabbed a kunai from my bag.

"_If I can just hold him up a little longer…"_ Eyeing the bells on his belt, I blocked his attack with my kunai.

"Woah; Rei! I'll help you!" I heard a voice and I felt a sigh rise in my ego. Haruka.

"_Could she keep quiet for more than five minutes?"_

The purple-haired girl raced toward me and set her mauve eyes on Sora-sensei, trying to put him in a Genjutsu.

"Dafuq?!" I could hear Dosan's voice from far away.

"I got stuck in a pitfall! Son of a bitch!"

His rage made all of us stop fighting for a moment as Sora-sensei raced off into the trees.

"I'll get him…"

Though, I was _not_ going to let him get away with putting _me_ back in the Academy, so of course I followed him, and Haruka was on my tail.

As we emerged from the trees, I saw multiple clones of Dosan attacking Sora-sensei at once.

"_Looks like he's getting a bell…"_ Jealousy seared me as I contemplated on how exactly we should get the damn bells.

Haruka interrupted me, though.

"Rei, I think you should distract the sensei with Dosan so I can zero in and grab the bells!"

Despite me kinda being irritated by Haruka all the time, her idea just might work.

"_It's possible."_

"Okay." Running to catch up with Dosan in the heat of the fight, I mustered up every Taijutsu trick in the book.

"Got them~!" Dosan's… very un-Dosan-like voice could be heard from where I was about to kick Sora-sensei's ass.

Looking over, Dosan was holding two shiny bells in his hand.

"Humph. Sensei, I think you were just screwing with us there…" Dosan was shaking his head, making his dark hair sway in the morning light.

"Wait! What just happened?!" I gasped, feeling light-headed and confused.

Sora-sensei's green eyes were sharp. "Dosan got… _both_ bells. With the help of you two, of course. He screwed with me saying he got trapped, and I believed it… but it was only a clone. He jumped me, using the commotion and confusion that both you and Rei created, and well… here we are."

Dosan looked almost pissed as he petitioned:

"Sora-sensei… I want to give my bells to Haruka and Rei. They shouldn't have to go back to the Academy, and I'll do it for them."

My breath caught in my throat. Dosan would do this for us?

"_How noble!"_

Haruka was just as stunned as I was as she stuttered: "What… what about you, Dosan?!"

He only shrugged, walking away.

"I can spend another year at the Academy, I don't care. More practice for me."

Sora-sensei stopped him.

"Dosan, wait. Actually, this whole test, the reason I made you take it… it was to improve and establish teamwork so you all could… could become more familiar with working together… but this is the fastest I've ever seen anyone complete the bell test."

Continuing after a deep breath, Sora-sensei closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I anticipated this team wouldn't work together to get the bells, since only two of you could have them anyway… but I can't believe you, Dosan would become so caring about your teammates well-being and saying you'd gladly go back to the Academy in their places. I've never seen that from anyone before. In fact… this is my first time being a sensei."

Haruka's mouth dropped open. "You've never had a squad before?!"

Shaking his head, Sora-sensei turned away from us.

"I never really wanted one. Even up until I met you all. The Third Hokage is actually kinda making me be a sensei because he believes that it will make me a better Shinobi, but I didn't believe that until now."

"Wait," Dosan interrupted.

"So… the entire test… it was bullshit?!"

Sora-sensei nodded apologetically, and Dosan threw his sword to the ground.

"I'm done. Bye. I'll see you guys tomorrow. I wasted sleep, training time, and my well-being on this. Bye."

"Wait! Dosan! Come back!" But he didn't. He just kept walking.

Haruka looked like she was about to go after him, but Sora-sensei shook his head.

"Don't even bother. He has a right to be mad; I thought it'd take hours to finish this test, but you've all been out here for maybe an hour and a half tops. I guess it's only fair to give you guys the day off."

I was still confused, though.

"Sensei… can we, you know… screw with Kakashi's team? Help him out a little?"

Our sensei got a devious look on his face as he headed off with Haruka. "Sounds like fun. You know, Kakashi and I have known each other ever since the ANBU days…"

Their voices faded off into the distance of the trees as I was left alone now.

"_Since we have the day off, I might as well take on dumb solo missions to keep myself busy. I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep anyway; my adrenaline is too high…"_

Wiping my white hair out of my face, I began to walk back toward central Konoha.

"_Either my new team is the best in history… or this is gonna be terrible…"_

* * *

Ok. Sorry if this chapter seems half-assed to the max. I kinda just wanted to get it over with you know? Anyway, next chapter is gonna be pretty… um… crack-filled? I think.

Again: Dosan Kobayashi is NOT owned by me. Rights to him go to Dosan Kobayashi (check out his profile).

Poll on MY profile is still up for the couple decision thing. There really isn't a set date for it to end, so VOTE!

Currently in spot number one: Naruto and Rei! Aww… I like the way you guys think. :)

Rate/Review!


	4. Day Off!

_Flashback:_

Wiping my white hair out of my face, I began to walk back toward central Konoha.

"_Either my new team is the best in history… or this is gonna be terrible…"_

Chapter 4: Day Off!

It must have been only around seven in the morning when I walked away from the training field. If I was going to do _anything_ today, it would _definitely_ not be training.

I mean, hell, no matter how little I did against my sensei, I was _not_ training at seven in the morning.

"_Maybe I'll just go home and sleep like Dosan… I wonder if Naruto's test is over, too…?"_

Contemplating the thought, I walked into Konoha, my hands in my pockets.

I walked past the barbeque joint when I heard a whisper.

"Psst! Rei! Get over here!"

My head shot to the side and my white hair blocked my view, but when I pushed my hair out of the way, I could see Shikamaru crouching and peeking out at me.

"What do you need, girly girl?" I taunted.

In contrast to Shikamaru's usual rage, he grabbed me and made me sit down in the corner with him, and that's when I heard a terrible noise:

"WHERE. ARE. YOU?!"

My orange eyes widened and Shikamaru was shivering.

"I ate the last piece by mistake…"

My mouth was agape. "You idiot!" I growled, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Now Choji is _going_ to kill you!"

"I know," Shikamaru bit his lip as he pushed me away. "Go calm him down!"

"Me?! Why the hell would you make _me_ do it?! I didn't take his-"

I stopped when a shadow came over my face.

"I'm outta here! See ya in hell, Rei!" With that, Shikamaru left me with an angry Choji.

"SHIKAMARU. YOU. WILL. DIE." Before he could get on with that, I thought fast and grabbed his arm.

"Choji! Don't kill Shikamaru, even if he _was_ being an ass and took the last piece of barbeque. I'll buy you chips to make up for it, ok?"

This seemed to calm him down as he stared at me and stopped yelling.

"Ok, Rei-chan! Thank you!" He gave me a _huge_, light-up-New-York smile and walked away.

"Damn, what a mess." I muttered, under my breath, as I got up and dusted myself off.

Automatically, I looked around for Shikamaru, but he was nowhere in sight.

"_What a little girl…"_

Smirking, I collected myself and made my way along the streets.

I passed Ichiraku's, where the Old Man greeted me with a smiling face.

"Rei! It's been awhile! Why don't you sit down and have yourself some ramen?"

That's when it happened; I could see them. All four of them. And us.

Naruto's parents. My parents. Naruto and I.

All of us were sitting down at the stand, eating to our heart's content, while Minato and Tsunade looked on.

Biting my lip, I shook my head.

"No thanks, Old Man. Maybe later."

Without waiting for a reply, I ran around the corner, falling against the wall after a moment.

I couldn't cry, but feeling suddenly exploded from within me as my heart began beating faster than normal.

A voice interrupted my angst:

"You're such an idiot!"

I recognized Dosan's voice and headed toward it.

"_Dosan NEVER raises his voice unless he's pissed off… he never actually YELLS at people…"_

Curiosity got to me as I ran toward his voice.

Turning another corner into a wide, dark alley, I saw a standoff.

Dosan and Kiba were facing off, appearing to be hurling insults at each other.

"You're such an asshole! You think you're so much better than everyone else!"

Kiba sounded angrier than I had ever heard him, in all my years of knowing him, and I gasped when Dosan actually responded:

"You're one to talk; always showing off in class and acting like you couldn't give less of a fuck about anything!"

Dosan pulled out a small dagger from his pocket.

"I was saving this for training with my team and my sensei, but I didn't have the time…"

My breath was caught in my throat. What do I do?

"_I have to help Kiba! I don't want Dosan to stab him!"_

Without even thinking about it, I dashed forward and knocked Dosan down.

Kiba was staring at me with wide eyes as he snarled:

"Rei! What the hell are you doing?! I was just about to kick this guy's ass!"

I stared at him, recognizing some anger fueled by his rivalry with Dosan, but also something else.

Dosan jumped up and glared at me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

I tried to answer, but I didn't know how.

"I… I was trying to… to help you! I… I mean stop you… Kiba is my friend and I don't like it when my friends hate each other for no reason…"

But Dosan pushed me back.

"You're so weak, Rei. No wonder all you wanted to be was a medical ninja. No wonder you're not good at anything else."

I felt anger sear me.

"_Why would he talk to me like that?! I'm not weak! I could kick his ass any day!"_

Kiba jumped in for me, rushing to me.

"How _dare_ you talk to Rei-chan like that?!"

He helped me up, but I honestly couldn't care less.

"_What's wrong with Dosan?!"_

"I'll kick your ass, you fucking bastard. _NO ONE_ will _ever_ talk to Rei-chan like that."

The voice marred the air, but it wasn't Kiba's.

Shikamaru and Choji were standing in front of me, but Choji was the one who had spoken.

"I've got _this_ one, guys. Rei promised me some chips, so I'll do the fighting this time!"

Choji had his hands in position for a handsign as Shikamaru and Kiba stood by me.

Any other day, I would have gone batshit insane on Dosan myself, but I don't know what it was that made me freeze.

"_Maybe it's not even Dosan… or maybe he's just having a bad day…"_

Though, he and Choji got into it.

They began to throw punches to the point that I thought someone was going to lose their head, but that's when Kiba and Shikamaru began to step in.

At first, Dosan didn't seem fazed as he knocked Shikamaru back easily, but before I could ask him if he needed help, he batted me away and began to fight again anyway.

Kiba was easily distracted by a stray cat running by, and by the time he finally recovered, Dosan sent him reeling into the wall.

Without missing a beat, he jumped up and began to rattle off handsigns.

"Ah, shit!" Dosan cursed as he flew back, due to a Fang over Fang attack from Kiba.

"Gotcha, Dosan." Shikamaru's crazy smirk unnerved me as he caught Dosan in his famous Shadow Possession.

The first thing that idiot did was make an ass out of himself and Dosan as he started making weird gestures, like making bunny ears and other stupid stuff, but then he proceeded to running into a wall awkwardly.

"ALRIGHT!" Dosan yelled.

"I give up! I'm done! You win!"

Shikamaru let Dosan go, and the four of us just watched him limp away until he was gone.

"Ch… asshole." I heard Kiba mutter under his breath.

"_They didn't have to do all that for me… I could have easily taken him… I'm not THAT useless…"_

Shikamaru turned to me.

"Where's Naruto?! He would have knocked Dosan into next week if he saw what just happened."

I shook my head. "He's training with his team and sensei. We got done with our training early… so I guess he's just… he's just tired or something…"

Choji smiled at me, though, and I was honestly surprised.

"Rei-chan… I'll do _anything_ for those chips you promised me! Heh… have them to me by tomorrow, alright?!"

His happy demeanor made me smile as well.

"_Choji never fails to make life worth living! Hah!"_

"I will…" Stopping in the middle of my sentence, I stared at his shoulder. I could see blood seeping from the wound.

"Before you go, can I have a look at your… um… wounds, guys?"

To be honest, I had no idea why I was stuttering, but I think it was because of what I had been thinking about before this incident happened.

My parents.

What really happened to them? Neither of their bodies had been found, which either meant that they were _eaten_, or they're hiding pretty damn well.

"_It's hell to think about… maybe that's why I'm so unlike myself right now."_

Through my thoughts, I saw my friends nodding.

I started with Shikamaru as I fixed up his leg, which had multiple scratches on it.

"_Ok… first disinfect, and then put a clean wrap around it."_

I was so engrossed in my work that I almost didn't notice he was speaking to me.

"…That Iruka-sensei taught us."

Without having a clue what he said, I only nodded, hoping that it wasn't a question.

"_My thoughts are going to put me in a bad mood."_

Wrapping up Shikamaru's wounds was easy; it didn't take much effort nor energy to do, since it was a small area.

"Ok, I think you're as good as new." My voice was quieter than normal, and Shikamaru nodded, standing up.

"Thanks, Rei. Sorry for what I said to you earlier."

"No… no it's ok, Shikamaru…"

He held out his hand for me to stand up, and when I took it, I felt my arm touch his body.

My face must have turned red, because his did as well.

I couldn't even apologize, because with that, he took off down the street.

Choji gasped. "Hey, Shikamaru! Wait for me!" Even though Choji's was the worst of all three's injuries, he didn't stop, even when I called out to him.

Sighing, I turned to Kiba, the last of the three. He was standing pretty awkwardly, but I managed to walk up to him.

"Will you let me treat you?" I asked, still feeling distracted.

Kiba looked down at me, but turned away.

"Ch. No. I've got stuff to do."

My ears burned at the coldness in his tone.

"_He must still be mad about Dosan…"_

Kiba started to walk away from me, but I called out.

"Please?!"

He stopped again and sighed.

"Fine."

Even though Kiba's injury was nothing near serious, just a small cut on his upper arm, I enjoyed treating it; cleaning up blood is something I can do all day.

When I was finished, as I wrapped the wraps around his arm.

"There… how does it feel?"

I still couldn't get over how soft my voice was because I was thinking. I hated being vulnerable like this.

He stared at it for a moment, but shrugged.

"Fine. Thanks. Bye."

Without another word, he walked away from me and turned a corner.

His cold attitude still bothered me as I walked the opposite way.

"_I can't believe he'd be so cold… it's not normal."_

That's when I saw Dosan limping and leaning against the wall.

"Ah, shit…" He was still cursing under his breath.

"Dosan!" I called out, and he turned to me. "Rei."

We stared at each other, and he shrugged.

"I'm sorry I said those things to you. I'm having a bad day; fucking Kiba bumped into me earlier, and it _really_ set me off."

I nodded; I _hated_ holding grudges against people, so naturally, I forgave Dosan.

"_It's fine… I mean, he didn't do anything ridiculously horrendous or anything…"_

My thoughts still wandered as I asked Dosan if I could fix him up as well.

He consented, and I got busy working on him.

"_Why did it have to be Naruto and I, huh? Why can't we have the normal lives of normal ninja kids in normal Konoha with normal parents?"_

Biting my lip, I tried to multi-task.

Dosan, though, made my life a little harder.

"Rei… did you _see_ the way Kiba was talking to me?! Does he _want_ to die?!"

Shaking my head, I began ripping the wraps as I pushed my hair out of my face.

"_What I'd give for the days when the only thing Naruto and I had to worry about was Naruto's mom finding out we ate all of the ramen…"_

"See you later, Rei; I've gotta get me some sleep!"

Before I could even finish, Dosan took off limping and turned a corner.

Feeling it pointless to follow him, I shrugged and turned away again.

Walking down the road against the current of people walking was Naruto and I's lives in a nutshell.

Even I couldn't help but admit that back in our early years in the Academy, I frequently thought about killing myself, and I'm sure Naruto did the same.

"_I wonder if anyone would have stopped me?"_

My hands tightened into fists as I trudged on, ignoring the looks people gave me. It was because I looked different, I guess. It's not too often you see a girl with fluffy white hair like the Great Jiraiya once had, right?

"Woah, hey, Rei! How's it going?!"

I looked up dully to see Haruka and Sora-sensei heading toward me.

"Have you seen Dosan? We need to talk to him; we've got a mission to attend to!"

Haruka saluted me and Sora-sensei shook his head.

"Kakashi's students are absolutely _terrible_ at the bells exercise. Every single opportunity, they failed at, so we decided to get out of there before we were found out, and that's when a Jonin found us and told us to gather up the rest of our squad and return to The Third Hokage's office."

I nodded and obliged, falling into step behind the two after pointing out the direction Dosan had limped off in.

Without much thought invading my mind now, I watched as we walked toward the Hokage Mansion, picking up Dosan along the way.

Once we had finally gone inside, we stood in front of the Third Hokage. He had a quite pleasant smile on his face as he smirked:

"Alright… your new mission is: to help my grandson with his training!"

* * *

…Haha… ok, it _may_ seem like I'm pulling stuff out of my ass, but the mission leads to bigger things. Don't worry.

Also, with the three (Choji, Shika, Kiba) who were there, I'm leaving that kinda open ended so you can VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE (Only four people have voted.)

I think that's about it.

Rate/Review! I wanna read what you all think.


	5. Enter: Konohamaru!

_Flashback:_

_Once we had finally gone inside, we stood in front of the Third Hokage. He had a quite pleasant smile on his face as he smirked:_

"_Alright… your new mission is: to help my grandson with his training!"_

Chapter 5: Enter: Konohamaru!

"_WHAT?!"_

I could literally _see_ Dosan's rage building up around the room.

"Your _grandson?!_ Why?!"

The Third only sighed.

"The little one will _not_ leave me alone, with all of the bills we have to pay to other villages for imports… I'm almost over my head in money problems… and to make it worse, my grandson-"

Without a second to spare, a blue streak could be seen in the corner of my eye.

"Grandpa! Can we?!"

The boy's bright and shiny face stuck with me.

"Konohamaru… Instead of training with me, you'll be training with these honorable ninja."

He glared up at us.

"You guys are complete _noobs_ compared to my grandpa! Come talk to me when you're above Genin level!"

My mouth fell agape as my temper escaped its cage in the back of my mind.

"Listen here, you ungrateful little punk: your grandpa is busy right now, so we're here to fill the void! We don't want to do this as much as you don't want us to!"

I said this with a lot more malice than intended, so I expected the little one to burst out crying or something, but if anything, it was the exact opposite:

"Hey! You're the girl that Naruto told me about!"

So-called Konohamaru's face broke out in a smile as he started to laugh.

"He said you have the shortest temper he's ever seen, and that you're super nice when you're not mad!"

My eyebrows creased.

"_This kid is something else…"_

Haruka jumped up and down and touched Konohamaru's blue cape.

"Aww! You're _so_ cute!"

Konohamaru rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, well…"

I couldn't help but glance at our sensei.

"What are we supposed to… do?" I whispered as Dosan shook his head and paced in circles, and Haruka mooned over Kono.

Sora-sensei smirked.

"Whatever he wants us to do, I guess."

Dosan stopped pacing and turned to the small boy.

"What do you want us to do with you first?"

Konohamaru put his finger on his chin for a moment and thought about it, then smirked.

"I know! We should go to the training field and you should demonstrate your jutsu to me, and maybe help me with some! I mean, that's what training _is_, right?!"

Haruka smiled. "Yeah! Let's do that! Can we, Sora-sensei?!"

"No." Dosan answered, glaring at Konohamaru.

Sora-sensei shook his head.

"Dosan, is your name Sora-sensei?"

"Yes."

"Well… what…" His eyes were wide open in surprise. "I wasn't expecting that…"

Kono had already dragged Haruka out the door, and I felt compelled to follow them.

Leaving my sensei and Dosan behind to fight it out in front of the Third Hokage, I stepped out to see Naruto along with his team walking away.

"Woah, Naruto! Boss!" Kono exclaimed, making Naruto's blonde head turn around.

"Hey, Konohamaru!"

Naruto looked up again and when he saw me, he waved.

"Hey, Rei! Hehe, what are you guys doing?"

Konohamaru answered for us.

"We're going to train! My grandpa has ordered them to help me!"

Naruto was shaking his head.

"Ah, a D rank mission, huh? That sucks. We're going on a C rank mission; we have to escort this one old guy to the Mist Village or something like that…"

My mouth was agape in surprise.

"Naruto! You lucky piece of-"

Naruto lunged for Kono's ears.

"Rei! There's a child here!"

That's when the rest of Naruto's team caught up to us.

"Come _on_, Naruto! We don't want to be late…" Sakura was ranting at my best friend, and it took energy not to go off on her.

Sasuke only stuck his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes, as if he was irritated but didn't want to show it.

Naruto's sensei, Kakashi, whipped out his book.

"We have a few minutes, guys… I suppose we can sit and chat…"

Kono was mesmerized by my best friend.

"What's it like to be a Genin, Boss?! Is it fun?!"

Naruto shrugged.

"It's one step closer to becoming Hokage, so I suppose that it is!"

That was when Dosan and Sora-sensei came out to join us.

"You _don't_ do that! Bad Dosan!" Sora-sensei slapped poor Dosan over the head.

Dosan only sighed. "Fine."

Sora-sensei looked up and saw Kakashi and shrugged.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei."

"Sora-sensei."

They greeted each other so formally that I wanted to ask why, but they soon distanced themselves from the group and went a little ways away from us.

"_I wonder what they're talking about…?"_

I didn't have much time to speculate as Haruka cut into my thoughts.

"Sasuke! It's so nice to see you here!"

Sakura didn't miss a beat, though.

"Hey, back off!"

"I don't see your name on him!"

This went on until Dosan went up to talk to Mr. Cocky-Thinks-He-Can-Do-Everything (Sasuke).

I sighed, wondering why I had ever liked him in the first place, when Naruto prodded my shoulder.

"Hey, Rei! Guess what?!"

"Huh?" I asked, tilting my head, as if I was asking a physical question.

Naruto was smiling quite sheepishly now.

"In case we're not back within a week, I went ahead and bought some extra ramen, so… you can stuff yourself all you want."

I didn't know if this was a compliment or an insult, so I nodded.

"Thanks, Naruto."

Kono was staring between the two of us, and when we stopped talking, he nodded.

"Yup, I see how it is, Boss! Slick operator, aren't you?"

Naruto and I stared at him questioningly.

"What are you talking about, Kono?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing like they did when he was confused.

"I know she's your…" He stuck up his pinky. "Girlfriend."

My temper went out of control as I grabbed his stupid blue cape.

"Alright, you stupid kid-"

Before I could do anything, Naruto grabbed my arm.

"It's ok, Rei! He didn't do anything bad!" He smiled at me, and I put Kono down.

"_I guess he's right…"_ Although, I was still infuriated by this kid's accusation.

Haruka grabbed Konohamaru as I put him down.

"Aww! I wish you were my little brother! You're so cute!"

Dosan was shaking his head and talking to Sasuke.

"I still can't believe that _you guys_ get a C ranked mission, while we're stuck with this little piece of-"

Naruto lunged toward Kono, who was still in Haruka's arms, to cover his ears once more.

"DOSAN! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE! THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE!"

"WELL, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK-SHIT!" Dosan retaliated.

"NOOO!" Naruto yelled as he missed Konohamaru's ears and face-planted into the ground.

Sasuke was shaking his head, looking all important.

"Heh. Dobe."

This must have made Naruto _livid,_ as his eyes wided.

"Sasuke… I'll _kill_ you!"

But Sakura hit him over the head.

"You'll do nothing of the sort!"

This time, I couldn't keep my temper inside.

"_What_ did you just do to him, Sakura?"

Before she could answer me, Sora-sensei headed back over to us.

"Alright, guys, let's get to training. I'm sure Kakashi's squad has fun things to do as well."

Naruto turned to me.

"Good luck with Kono! He's a handful…"

I nodded.

"Yeah, I've noticed…"

He only gave me a small smile and turned around, following Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke out of sight.

"_I hope he does well…"_

Sora-sensei snapped me out of my thoughts again.

"Let's head over to the training field, Konohamaru. There, I'll show you how I combine my chakra with various parts of my body to attack with twice the damage."

Haruka was rubbing Kono's head.

"Sensei, you sound so boring…"

Dosan shrugged.

"Let's get it over with!"

Before we could reach the field, though, I heard a voice. Multiple voices mixed together, but it was so synchronized that it sounded like one person:

"_HELP!"_

* * *

I think we can all agree that this chapter was remarkably short.

Sorry about that! D:

Anyway, I think this story is gonna be _great!_

Sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger.

THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE ABOUT THE PAIRINGS IN THIS STORY AND IT'S BOTHERING ME THAT ONLY SIX PEOPLE HAVE VOTED! I NEED FEEDBACK BECAUSE I HATE MAKING HUGE DESCISIONS LIKE THIS BY MYSELF! D:

xD. Rant Complete.

Rate/Review! :)


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